Tickets on Sale Now for Film Festival Awards Show, February 18
UNA TO OPEN LINDSEY ARCHIVE AT MARCH FILM FESTIVAL, February 13
Florence Library Hosts "Billy Bob's Best" and Personal Favorites
January 30
Film Festival to Welcome Oscar Winner Billy Bob Thornton - January 30
Feb. 18, 2008
Contact: Josh Woods
Office: 256-765-4225
Cell: 256-856-2950
jlwoods1@una.edu
TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR
FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS SHOW
By Rebecca Walker
UNA Student Writer
FLORENCE, Ala. — Tickets are now on sale for the George Lindsey UNA Film
Festival Award Show, scheduled for 8:00 p.m. March 8 at the Ritz Theatre in
Sheffield with a pre-show reception beginning at 7:00 pm.
General-admission tickets are $15, and student tickets are $10.
General-admission tickets will cover the awards show and after-party at the
Cypress Moon Studio at Muscle Shoals Sound. Tickets for only the after-party are
$10.
Tickets are available at the UNA Bookstore in the Guillot University Center,
Cold Water Books in Tuscumbia and Coffee-Ol-Ogy Coffee Shop in the
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. Tickets can also be obtained by e-mailing
lindseyfilmfest@una.edu.
For more information, visit
www.lindseyfilmfest.com or call 256-765-4592.
Feb. 13, 2008
Contact: Josh Woods
Office: 256-765-4225
Cell: 256-856-2950
jlwoods1@una.edu
UNA TO OPEN LINDSEY ARCHIVE AT MARCH FILM FESTIVAL
By Josh Woods
Director of University Relations
FLORENCE, Ala. – University of North Alabama students will soon
have a library of major Hollywood scripts and films at their fingertips when UNA
opens the George Lindsey Archive. Lindsey will be present for the archive’s
dedication and grand opening at the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival at 10 a.m.
March 7 in the Collier Library.
Lindsey, a 1952 graduate of UNA, established the archive with his entire
collection of films, scripts and memorabilia from “The Andy Griffith Show” and a
long list of other television, movie and Broadway productions.
“I hope that, through this archive, students wanting an acting career can use
these items, study them and benefit from them,” Lindsey said.
The archive will reflect Lindsey’s entertainment career as well as the careers
of others, including Oscar-winning actor and Lindsey’s personal friend Ernest
Borgnine. Borgnine’s collection at UNA will include his entire set of scripts,
including the 1955 motion picture “Marty” and the entire “McHale’s Navy”
television series.
“This archive is truly a piece of Americana,” said Dr. Garry Warren, UNA vice
president for academic affairs and provost, who has been involved with the film
festival since its inception 11 years ago. “There have been people give their
scripts because of the significance of the memorabilia and films archived here.”
Warren said the significance of the collection for students will be the
“hands-on opportunities” it offers. “You can pick up one of the scripts of the
‘Andy Griffith Show,' and you can see where the actors or writers have made
handwritten changes. You can hold and study an Oscar-winning movie script. This
is first-hand experience,” he said.
Lindsey is founder and co-sponsor of the annual George Lindsey UNA Film
Festival. A graduate of UNA as well as the prestigious American Theatre Wing in
New York, his career has included Broadway musicals, motion pictures and a long
list of television shows. While his career has extended well beyond Mayberry, he
is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Goober on the classic “Andy Griffith
Show” from 1964 to 1968.
For more information on the 2008 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, visit
www.lindseyfilmfest.com or call
256-765-4592.
January 30, 2008
FLORENCE LIBRARY HOSTS “BILLY BOB’S BEST”
AND PERSONAL FAVORITES
FLORENCE, Ala. –
In preparation for the 2008 George Lindsey UNA Film
Festival, the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library will honor the festival’s
scheduled guest – Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton – with a month-long
series of film screenings leading up to the filmmaker’s festival appearances on
Friday,
March 7.
Movie historian Terry Pace, who teaches English at the University of North
Alabama, will host “Billy Bob’s Best … Plus a Few of His Favorites,” combining
Thornton’s own screen milestones – including the director’s cut of his
Oscar-winning 1996 masterpiece Sling Blade
– with some of the classic movies and television episodes that influenced and
inspired him.
“One of the main reasons Billy Bob is coming to the festival is because he is a
great admirer of our founder, George Lindsey, and George’s lovable role as
Goober on The Andy Griffith Show,”
explained Pace, who also serves on the festival’s steering committee.
“Billy Bob also remains very
passionate about two films he has loved all his life – the classic Western
High Noon with Gary Cooper and the
haunted-house comedy The Ghost and Mr.
Chicken with Don Knotts,” Pace added. “We thought it would be fun to build
up some community interest in the festival – and introduce audiences to the
diversity of Billy Bob’s career – by showing some of his finest films, along
with his favorite Andy Griffith Show
episodes and his two favorite films.”
Thornton has been actively involved in planning the “Billy Bob’s Best” series
and personally selected the individual film titles as well as the
Andy Griffith Show episodes that will
be shown from Feb. 1 through March 1 in the library’s conference room.
“Billy Bob has intimate ties to the Muscle Shoals music industry and the Sun
Records musical heritage of Sam Phillips, the Florence native who discovered
Elvis, Jerry Lee, Johnny Cash and so many others,” Pace remarked. “Muscle Shoals
songwriting legend and veteran movie actor Donnie Fritts has become close
friends and songwriting partners with Billy Bob, and he issued the official
invitation for Billy Bob to join us at the festival.”
To mark those local connections, the “Billy Bob’s Best … Plus a Few of His
Favorites” series will also include a “Salute to Two Sams” double feature made
up of two television documentaries: the A&E
Biography special Sam
Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ’n’ Roll (which Thornton narrated) and a
cinematic study of Sam Peckinpah’s West:
Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade, which features on-screen interviews with
Fritts (who appeared in three of the controversial director’s films) and
lifelong Peckinpah fan Thornton.
“By the end of this film series,” Pace promises, “I think audiences will have a really vivid and colorful idea of who Billy Bob is and why he’s such a perfect fit for this area and this festival.”
The lineup for the free “Billy Bob’s Best” series, sponsored by the library and Pillar of Fire Productions, will feature:
Friday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.
– The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001),
plus the “Opie the Birdman” episode of The
Andy Griffith Show (1963)
Friday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m. –
A Simple Plan (1998),
plus the “Fun Girls” episode of The Andy
Griffith Show (1964)
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. –
The Astronaut Farmer (2007),
plus the “Man in a Hurry” episode of The
Andy Griffith Show (1963)
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.
–
Monster’s Ball (2001),
plus the “Goober Makes History” episode of
The Andy Griffith Show (1966)
Sunday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m.
–A “Salute to
Two Sams” Double Feature
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll (2000)at 5 p.m.,
plus Sam Peckinpah’s West: Legacy of a
Hollywood Renegade (2004) at 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m.
– The Director’s Cut of Sling Blade
(1996),
plus the short film “Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade” (1994)
Saturday, March 1, 2 p.m.
– A Double Feature of Favorites
“The Haunted House” episode of The Andy
Griffith Show (1963) at 2 p.m.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966),
starring Don Knotts, at 2:30 p.m.
and High Noon (1952), starring
Gary Cooper, at 4 p.m.
January 30, 2008
Contact: Josh Woods
Office: 256-765-4225
Cell: 256-856-2950
jlwoods1@una.edu
WINNER BILLY BOB THORNTON
FLORENCE,
Ala.
– Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton – an Arkansas native who
rose to fame and critical acclaim with the offbeat Southern drama “Sling
Blade”
– will be the special guest for the 2008 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival.
The 11th
annual festivities will take place March 6-9 at the University of North Alabama
and across the surrounding Shoals area.
“Billy Bob Thornton is an incredible talent and a giant in the entertainment
industry. This is an exciting opportunity and a milestone in terms of the
quality and growth of our film festival, said festival founder and UNA graduate
Lindsey, who became a household name through his classic role as goofy,
good-natured garage mechanic Goober Pyle on television’s 1960s sitcom “The
Andy Griffith Show.”
Thornton – who calls himself “the world’s biggest fan” of “The
Andy Griffith Show”
and its colorful Mayberry characters
– is scheduled to appear at the Lindsey festival March 7.
Highlights of his UNA visit will include a retrospective tribute to his career
and a celebration of his Oscar-winning work on “Sling
Blade.”
“I’m honored to be a part of the George Lindsey Film Festival at UNA, and I look
forward to seeing everyone there,” Thornton said. “I’m such a big fan of
George.”
In addition to his award-winning work as a screen actor, director and writer,
Thornton is a seasoned musician whose latest album, “Beautiful
Door,”
was released last summer. When he was 17, Thornton and his band traveled from
Arkansas to Alabama to record their first album at Widget Sound, one of the
fabled Muscle Shoals studios. He was invited to attend UNA’s film festival by
his close friend and frequent songwriting partner Donnie Fritts, a Muscle Shoals
songwriting legend and longtime Lindsey festival favorite.
“I look forward to the festival every year because I love George and I love
movies,” Fritts said. Fritts has also appeared as a colorful character actor in
films ranging from the Sam Peckinpah classics “Pat
Garrett and Billy the Kid”
and “Bring
Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia”
to “A
Star is Born”
and the music-industry mockumentary “The
Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico.”
“This year, the festival is going to be extra special because my good friend
Billy Bob has agreed to attend,” Fritts added. “When I first asked him about it,
as soon as he heard George Lindsey’s name, he automatically said, ‘Yes, I
definitely want to do it.’”
Thornton is scheduled to participate in a question-and-answer session covering
his career at 2 p.m. March 7 in the Performance Center at UNA’s Guillot
University Center. The program will be moderated by Terry Pace, who teaches
English at UNA and has written extensively on film history and the Muscle Shoals
music industry.
At 7 p.m., the festival moves to the historic Shoals Theater in downtown
Florence, where Pace will host a salute to “Sling
Blade,”
the groundbreaking film that earned Thornton an Oscar for Best Adapted
Screenplay. Immediately afterward, Thornton will join Fritts and the Muscle
Shoals rock-and-soul band The Decoys for an all-star jam session on the Shoals
Theater stage.
“Billy Bob is such an ideal fit for this festival,” Pace said. “In addition to
his admiration for George, his friendship with Donnie and his history with
Muscle Shoals music, Billy Bob has worked closely with one of our area’s
homegrown screen actors, Lucas Black, on ‘Sling
Blade,’
‘All the Pretty Horses’
and ‘Friday
Night Lights.’
He also worked with another multi-talented and equally popular character actor
from this region, the late Michael Jeter.”
In 2000, Thornton narrated “Sam
Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ’n’ Roll,”
an episode of the A&E series “Biography”
that was filmed on location in the Muscle Shoals area and Memphis, Tenn. The
two-hour documentary honored the musical legacy of Sun Records founder Phillips,
a rock ’n’ roll revolutionary who remains one of Thornton’s musical heroes.
“Billy Bob has such deep roots in the South, but he seems to share an especially
close kinship with the movie and music talent from this part of Alabama,” Pace
remarked. “This is like a big Muscle Shoals homecoming for Billy Bob, and he’s
excited about being here and joining the celebration. He’s definitely one of
us.”
For more information on the 2008 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com or call 256-765-4592. For details on Thornton’s scheduled appearances, contact Pace at 256-366-4512 or tgpace@una.edu.
HANDY FESTIVAL ADDS ENCORE SCREENING OF AWARD-WINNING LINDSEY FILM
FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY,
ERIC ESSIX: AT HOME
FLORENCE, Ala. – An encore screening of the award-winning
documentary
Eric Essix: At Home has been
scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday, July 29, in the conference room of the
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, 350 Wood Ave., downtown Florence.
The film was part of this week’s W.C.
Handy Music Festival film series, Handy
Meets Lindsey: A Showcase of Award-Winning Works from the 2007 George Lindsey
UNA Film Festival.
Due to popular demand, an additional
screening has been added on the final day of the 2007 Handy festivities.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Eric Essix: At Home was
the first-place winner of the 2007 Golden Lion Award in the Lindsey festival’s
faculty filmmaking division.
The 57-minute film, produced and
directed by Birmingham filmmaker Dwight Cammeron, tells the story of a longtime
Handy festival favorite Eric Essix, a Birmingham-based jazz guitarist and Muscle
Shoals recording artist.
headquarters at (256) 766-7642 or visit the website at
www.wchandymusicfestival.org.
GEORGE LINDSEY UNA FILM FESTIVAL ISSUES 2008 CALL FOR ENTRIES
July 18, 2007
By Terry Pace
University Relations Consultant
FLORENCE, Ala. – The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival has issued its official
call for entries for 2008.
The Lindsey festival is a university-based showcase of student, faculty and
professional works by local, state, national and international filmmakers.
The 11th annual festival will take place from Thursday, March 6, through Sunday,
March 9, with screenings, workshops, panel discussions, parties, receptions and
other film-oriented events taking place on the UNA campus and other locations
throughout the Muscle Shoals area of northwest Alabama.
Previous guests for the festival range from Academy Award-winning actor Ernest
Borgnine, Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd and Sling Blade stars Lucas
Black and Natalie Canerday to Emmy Award-winning Seinfeld and
NewsRadio writer Tom Cherones, Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
makeup-effects creator Robert Hall and recording-industry figures Mike Curb and
Ray Stevens.
The festival – founded by UNA alumnus George Lindsey, best known for his work on
television’s classic sitcom The Andy Griffith Show – awards cash prizes
to Golden Lion Award winners in each competitive category.
A grand prize of $3,000 is awarded to the student, faculty or professional film
named Best of Show. A $2,000 cash award is presented to the winner of the Clyde
“Sappo” Black Sweet Home Alabama Award, honoring the Best of State entry filmed
anywhere in Alabama.
Categories recognize student, faculty and professional excellence in
documentaries, short and full-length narratives, music videos and animated
works. Student divisions cover kindergarten through college-age students.
An early-bird special for festival submissions ends Aug. 14. Until then, entry
fees are $10 for standard entries as well as student works.
From Aug. 15 through Oct. 14, standard entry fees will be $20, while student
entry fees remain at $10.
A late deadline has been set for Nov. 14, with entry fees at $30 for standard
entries and $20 for students.
Entries will be accepted through an extended deadline of Dec. 14, with the final
entry fees at $35 for standard entries and $25 for students. For more
information, call the festival office at (256) 765-4592, visit
www.lindseyfilmfest.com or
www.myspace.com/georgelindseyunafilmfest, or e-mail
lindseyfilmfest@una.edu.
July 12, 2007
MUSIC, MOVIES JOIN FORCES AS “HANDY MEETS LINDSEY” FOR FILM SCREENINGS AT 2007
W.C. HANDY MUSIC FESTIVAL
FLORENCE, Ala. – This year’s W.
C. Handy Music Festival will feature free screenings of two music-related
films that earned honors in the 10th annual
film festival at the University of
North Alabama.
The music documentaries Eric Essix:
At Home and Richard
Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour will be shown at the
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library during a new two-day Handy event, Handy
Meets Lindsey: An Encore Showcase of Award-Winning Works from the 2007 George
Lindsey UNA Film Festival.
“Three of the documentaries that won awards at this year’s film festival
featured musicians who are closely associated with the Handy festival and Muscle
Shoals music,” said 2007 Lindsey festival chairman Dr. Garry Warren, UNA’s Dean
of Information Technologies and Special Assistant to the President.
One of those films – Iron City Blues,
featuring Birmingham-based blues artist Big Mike Griffin – is currently in
negotiations with a potential distributor.
“That’s great news, but unfortunately it means that the film cannot be shown at
this time,” Warren noted. “However, we are pleased that Handy has chosen to
spotlight two other films from the Lindsey festival that celebrate this region’s
musical heritage. They’re certainly a nice fit for Handy week.”
The documentary Eric Essix: At Home,
winner of the Golden Lion Award in the Lindsey festival’s Faculty Division, will
be screened at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 26, in the conference room of the library,
350 N. Wood Ave., downtown Florence.
The 57-minute film, produced and directed by Dwight Cammeron, tells the story of
a longtime Handy festival favorite Eric Essix, a Birmingham-based jazz guitarist
and Muscle Shoals recording artist.
“The Handy festival has become a deep tradition for us,” says Essix, who will
perform at a number of 2007 Handy events. “We’ve recorded there at FAME Studios,
and we’ve played live shows all over that area, so Muscle Shoals really feels
like our home away from home.”
The second film, Richard Johnston:
Hill Country Troubadour, was the first-place winner of the Lindsey
festival’s 2007 Clyde “Sappo” Black Sweet Home Alabama Award. The 57-minute
documentary also earned the Golden Lion Award for first place in the Lindsey
festival’s Professional Documentary competition.
Johnston – who has performed at previous Handy festivals, but is unavailable to
attend this year – is an Alabama-based white blues musician whose one-man-band
performances mix voodoo rhythms with the traditional black blues of juke joints
in the Mississippi Delta.
“When I first saw Richard perform, he blew me away,” recalled Tuscaloosa-based
filmmaker Max Shores, the documentary’s producer and director. “He’s an amazing
musician and a fascinating person, and I simply wanted to tell his unique and
colorful story in a documentary format. I’m delighted that the film has been
embraced by so many people.”
Now in its 26th year, the Handy festival – set for Friday, July 20, through
Sunday, July 29 – honors the life and music of Florence native W.C. Handy, the
world-famous “Father of the Blues” who wrote St. Louis Blues, Beale
Street Blues, Memphis Blues and other classic compositions.
Both films in the Handy Meets Lindsey series will be introduced by Terry
Pace, a UNA adjunct instructor of English who serves on the Lindsey festival’s
steering committee and teaches a continuing-studies course on the history of the
Muscle Shoals recording industry.
“Much of this area’s music heritage began with the blues of W.C. Handy – he was
the first to export the music of this region to the rest of the world,” Pace
explained. “Modern musicians like Eric Essix and Richard Johnston are clearly
two of the torch-bearers of that tradition. Each of them is preserving Handy’s
musical heritage in his own innovative and distinctive way.”
The 10-day Handy festival includes more than 200 music-themed events held at
parks, theaters, auditoriums, restaurants, nightclubs, schools, museums,
libraries, art galleries and businesses throughout the Muscle Shoals area of
northwest Alabama.
Festivities include a headliner concert by
Take 6, a contemporary-gospel
group that originated at Oakwood College in Huntsville. That performance begins
at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Norton Auditorium on the UNA campus. Admission
is $25 for the general public and $15 for students.
For details on other 2007 Handy events, call the festival headquarters at (256)
766-7642 or visit the website at
www.wchandymusicfestival.org.
June 20, 2007
Dates have been announced
for the 2008 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, a university-based showcase of
student, faculty and professional works by local, state, national and
international filmmakers. The 11th annual festival will take
place from Thursday, March 6, through Sunday, March 9, with screenings,
workshops, panel discussions, parties and other film-oriented events taking
place on the UNA campus and other locations throughout the surrounding Shoals
area.
Please add the George
Lindsey UNA Film Festival dates to your event calendars and planning schedules
for the upcoming year.
11th Annual George Lindsey UNA Film
Festival
March 6-9, 2008
©2005 - 2006 George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival.
All rights reserved.